Fixed Overtime Pay in Japan: Reading Job Offers and Checking the Calculation
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Last Updated:
Category: Work Styles
Authors: Shusaku Yosa
Fixed overtime pay is a predetermined payment for specified overtime or related work. It is sometimes called minashi zangyodai. A monthly salary headline can combine ordinary pay and this fixed component, making offers difficult to compare.
This guide explains how to read an offer and check its breakdown and shortfalls. For classifying the hours themselves, see contractual and statutory overtime.
Start with three items
For recruitment using fixed overtime pay, check basic pay excluding that component, the covered hours and calculation amount, and additional payment for excess work.
Item | Look for | Question if unclear |
|---|---|---|
Ordinary pay | Basic salary excluding fixed overtime | How much of the monthly figure is basic salary? |
Fixed component | Amount, hours, and covered categories | Does it cover overtime, statutory holidays, night work, or a combination? |
Excess or shortfall | Additional payment and settlement method | How is a difference paid when the actual required amount exceeds the fixed sum? |
A sales allowance or another label may function as fixed overtime pay, but a label alone does not establish its treatment. Compare the recruitment explanation with the written employment conditions.
Two offers of ¥296,000 can mean different things
For example, compare these monthly gross figures, excluding other allowances and bonuses.
Offer | Basic salary | Fixed overtime | Monthly total |
|---|---|---|---|
A | ¥256,000 | ¥40,000 for 20 hours of statutory overtime | ¥296,000 |
B | ¥296,000 | None; overtime paid separately | ¥296,000 plus overtime arising |
The same headline does not mean the same ordinary pay or overtime treatment. Also compare contractual hours, bonus calculations, and allowance conditions. A difference in basic salary does not automatically determine a particular bonus difference; check the employer's formula.
Checking ¥40,000 for 20 hours
For offer A, suppose the premium-pay wage base consists only of the ¥256,000 basic salary, and average monthly contractual hours are 160. Covered work is ordinary statutory overtime within the monthly 60-hour threshold, with no night or statutory-holiday work and a 25% premium.
- Ordinary hourly base: ¥256,000 ÷ 160 = ¥1,600.
- Pay for one overtime hour: ¥1,600 × 1.25 = ¥2,000.
- Pay for 20 hours: ¥2,000 × 20 = ¥40,000.
Do not simply divide the entire ¥296,000 salary to obtain the base in this example. Conversely, if other allowances must enter the wage base, basic salary alone is insufficient. Nor does every workplace use 160 hours. See the contractual hours and monthly average guide and ask for the employer's calculation.
Under the same assumptions, 25 actual statutory overtime hours require ¥50,000. An additional ¥10,000 is needed above the fixed ¥40,000. Different applicable rates or a higher hourly base can also create a shortfall, so compare amounts as well as hours.
Must you work the included hours?
Fixed overtime is a fixed payment irrespective of whether that overtime actually occurs. If offer A's conditions apply and you work an ordinary full month with 12 covered overtime hours, the employer cannot simply assume that eight “unused” hours should be deducted. Absence or joining and leaving partway through a month requires a separate check of contractual pay rules.
The 20-hour figure is also not an obligation to perform that much overtime or permission for unlimited overtime. The basis for an overtime instruction, Article 36 arrangements, working-time limits, and actual time management remain separate matters.
Fixed overtime pay and deemed working-time systems are different mechanisms despite similar Japanese names. Having the former does not by itself remove the need to keep time records.
When the explanation and payment differ
Gather the advertisement, contract, wage rules, time records, and payslips if:
- Ordinary pay and the fixed component's coverage are unexplained.
- You are told no additional payment is made regardless of excess work.
- Actual hours, rates, and the wage base reveal a shortfall.
- Night or holiday work is said to be included without a clear allocation method.
Identify which payment covers which work rather than deciding the whole contract's legal position from incomplete wording alone. If an unexplained amount or shortfall remains, take the documents to a Labour Standards Inspection Office or another appropriate service.
For example: “Do I understand correctly that ¥296,000 comprises ¥256,000 basic salary and ¥40,000 for 20 overtime hours? Please provide the hourly base, average monthly contractual hours, and the method for paying excess, night, and holiday work in writing.”
Assess operation as well as the scheme
Fixed overtime pay alone does not establish whether actual overtime is high or low. Ask about normal and busy-month hours in the intended team, how records are corrected, and where additional payments appear on payslips. Employers without the scheme also need their payment practices checked.
For annual salary offers, see the annual salary payment guide. The work trial and job-change checklist can help compare written terms with explanations and observed practice.
Sources: MHLW: fixed overtime and recruitment disclosures / MHLW: separating basic pay and covering shortfalls / MHLW: example fixed overtime wording / MHLW: the premium-pay wage base / MHLW: working-time rules
